"What the f*ck?" Those were the only words that left the lips of Gander as he saw a boy standing inside the room.
The boy was none other than the person that was in the picture, which was given to him by Ryder.
"Why are you so shocked to see him here? Didn't you call him here yourself?" The Seventh King asked, even though he himself was surprised about the boy's presence since the boy had come here so fast.
"By the way, didn't you say he would take longer to get here? How is he so fast?" He further asked, raising the question in his mind.
"Ah, t-that's what I'm curious about as well. That's why I was so shocked," Gander replied, making an excuse.
The reason he was shocked was because he expected Ryder to be here, or at least the trap. He didn't expect to actually find a boy here that he didn't even call.
"I was near this place at a mall when I got the call; that's why I was able to get here faster," the young boy replied to the query of the Seventh King.
'His voice!' As soon as Gander heard that voice, he felt a jolt of electricity. That was the voice of Ryder!
'What the heck? How the hell did he change his body so well? Is he a magician? Just how many tricks does he have?' he thought.
Now that he knew that it was Ryder, he had to handle the situation. The Kings knew Ryder's face, but it didn't seem like they knew his voice. That was why the Seventh King hadn't recognized his voice n
"I get it, hahaha. That's right. He was nearby when he got the call, instead of being at his home. That's why he was able to get here faster," Gander said, smiling.
"That does make sense," the Seventh King said. "But how did he get inside? You had the key; he didn't. You opened the door right before me."
"The sir who called me to come here opened the door for me. He told me to wait here for the arrival of you all. Are you the modeling director who is here to audition me?" Ryder asked innocently.
"Hahaha, that's right. I'm the director. Don't worry, as long as things progress the way I want; you won't ever need to worry about becoming famous ever again," the Seventh King said, grinning.
He looked back at Gander before he said, "I want to interview him alone. Where's the room you talked about? With bed? So that we can be more comfortable during, ah, interview."
"That, how about you talk here? In the meanwhile, I'll get the room ready. Just give me five minutes," Gander said before he hastily stepped out of the room.
He was sure that he wasn't actually going to need a room since Ryder was most probably going to kill the Seventh King by then.
And in case the outcome was different, and the Seventh King killed Ryder, he still wasn't going to need a room with a bed since he was going to know the truth about their plan in that case. And that was going to mean Gander's death at the hands of a King.
He started walking away to hide in different parts of the building. If Ryder won, he was sure that he was going to get a call. On the other hand, if the Seventh King won, Gander could at least have an advantage since he was going to be hiding in advance.
He hastily walked as far as he could from his office and stopped only when he reached a room that he had decided to hide inside.
….
Back in Gander's office, Ryder was standing before the Seventh King, like an innocent kid.
"Shall we start the interview?" The Seventh King asked. "Are you ready?"
"I am," Ryder replied. He already knew about the methods of the Seventh King.
The Seventh King generally did the short talks with his prey before he closed in and stabbed them in their back. And after the prey was dead, did he start doing the dirty deed with them.
"So, tell me. What do you like? And what do you dislike? And why do you want to become a model?" The Seventh King asked as he took a step closer to Ryder.
"I like everyone, my friends, my family, and all the nice people. As far as I know, I don't dislike anything," Ryder replied.
"And I want to become a model because it's my passion," He further added.
"Oh? Do you like all nice people?" The Seventh King asked, amused. He again took a step towards Ryder, leaving only three steps of the distance between the two.
Ryder nodded his head in response.
"Does that mean you like me too?" The Seventh King again asked. "Because everyone says that I'm a nice man."
He took one more step towards Ryder. The distance between the two decreased to two steps only.
"You are? Then I like you too," Ryder replied with an innocent smile. He understood what the man was trying to do. Soon, he was going to attempt to stab Ryder.
"Oh? You like me? I'm so glad. Because I like you too," The Seventh King said, grinning.
"So, did I pass?" Ryder asked the Seventh King.
"You passed with flying colors. Congratulations!" The Seventh King said as he spread out his hands to hug Ryder, who also stepped forward, excitedly hugging the Seventh King back.
"Congratulations, young man. You're even better than I hoped. Thank you for making my stay in this city pleasant," the Seventh King said as a knife appeared in his hand. "And may you rest in-ahhh!"
He was about to finish his sentence, but he couldn't even finish as his scream escaped as if he was dying.
Someone had used the same trick he was going to use as a knife was stabbed in his back. Normally, he wouldn't have screamed since he was a King with his extreme healing, and he couldn't die from just this, but this time it was different.
The Seventh King actually felt like he was dying. He tried to move his hand to stab Ryder in revenge, but his hands didn't move.
"How does it feel to be beaten in your own game? I can't even imagine how many kids you had looked like this before what you did to them, all so you could have your satisfaction. Honestly, I've killed two kings before you, but by killing you, I really feel the best," Ryder said before he stepped back, leaving the golden knife stabbed in the back of the Seventh King.
He left the hug and once again created the distance from the Seventh King, bringing the distance between them to two meters.
"The Soul Snatching Knife, not a cheap item by any means but really magical. You should feel lucky that you got it used on you. At Least you can say with pride when you go to hell, that I died because of a magical treasure!" Ryder said as he lazily stretched his arms. "No need to thank me."
The lips of the Seventh King twitched as if he wanted to say something, but his body or even his lips didn't move. His consciousness was growing weak with each passing second as if he was dying.
"Don't worry; you won't die so fast. You still have ten seconds before you could sleep forever. As for your words, don't worry. I already know what you want to say. It would probably be the same thing that the two kings before you said when they died. And I'll tell you the same thing as them."
"You're not the last one. I'll send more kings to keep you company on the highway to hell," he added.
The golden knife that was stabbed in the back of the Seventh King was the Soul Snatching Knife, the item which was said to belong to the legendary soul snatched witch. It was said to be something that bound the soul of the one it was stabbed inside with it.
After the binding was successful, it destroyed itself, because of which the soul was destroyed too.
Soon, the golden knife started disintegrating before it completely disappeared. And with that, the final light in the eyes of the Seventh King also disappeared, bringing Ryder's score to three.
He had killed three kings now, excluding Luke, who was almost equivalent to a King.
With the death of the seventh king, Ryder didn't waste a single moment before he stepped forward and absorbed the body of the Seventh King, bringing his level to an even greater height.
His real-world level had increased to a whopping level of 2500 with the newest addition, making him surprised. So much strength now belonged to him.
He wondered if he was strong enough to kill the leader of these people or not. Janus had told him to absorb all the kings before taking on their leader. Just what did that imply?
